Everything You Need to Know About Canna-Banking

“Bankers have said that in the current environment, with the enforcement and examiners looking at everything bankers are doing, they aren’t really predisposed to take on anything risky.”

Wednesday 06/14/2017

by MERRY JANE Staff

by MERRY JANE Staff

Now that marijuana is legal in dozens of states across the nation in some shape or form, pot shops are popping up at a rate that will soon rival bodegas. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t significant hurdles hindering their growth.

Because marijuana is still illegal on a federal level, banks do not have the same freedom to handle canna-businesses as they would other businesses. Even though President Obama passed guidelines to allow banks to serve dispensaries and other cannabis-related businesses, banks are still wary of taking them on as customers. That means shops have to go about business the old school way—all cash and no loans.

“Bankers have said that in the current environment, with the enforcement and examiners looking at everything bankers are doing, they aren’t really predisposed to take on anything risky,” Rob Rowe, associate chief counsel of regulatory compliance at the American Bankers Association, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “And banking a marijuana business is risky.”

To learn more about the problems that canna-companies face, and the importance of lifting pot restrictions on a federal level to spur job growth in local economies, check out the MERRY JANE News report above.

Published on June 14, 2017

MERRY JANE Staff

MERRY JANE is based in Los Angeles, California and is dedicated to elevating the discussion around cannabis culture.